


STAR BROTHERS {A Super Mario Bros. Fanfiction}

by TraceBitly



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Fanfiction, Fantasy, Gen, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25701619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TraceBitly/pseuds/TraceBitly
Summary: Every so many years, the beautiful wish-filled star bits scatter across the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond. When those star bits gradually lose their wishes and joy, they become a growing problem when their negative aura hints to a disaster that no one is safe from. Unsuspecting Reader and the mysterious-hooded Red join forces to help bring all the Kingdoms together and bring hope and joy back to the stars above, but can they gather enough joy to stop the disaster before it's too late?(whoops forgot to update this, lol) As if sometime last month, I will resume updating this book in Mid-November during my Thanksgiving break. Thank you for your patients!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. ☆《AUTHOR'S NOTE》☆

Hello, hello, hello! I'm glad that you've come to read this story. I've actually started writing this on a whim, but I started to like it more and more so I'm happy to share it out to the world! As always, if you like the story, please consider leaving kudos for it and sharing it around with friends! Oh, and if you want to leave some feedback, then feel 100% free to leave it! I try to reply to all the comments I receive! <3

☆《CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING》☆

¤ **This is a reader insert-ish story.** Whenever "Reader" is mentioned, this is referring to you.

¤ **This story is written to use gender-neutral pronouns (they/them/their(s)).** This was done to avoid forced gender assignment and promote inclusiveness.

¤ **Though "they/them/their(s)" is used throughout the story, feel free to interpret the Reader's gender as you please.** The gender of the Reader is not relevant to the story, therefore will not affect the plot or readability.

¤ **Each chapter can range from ~1,000 to ~1,600 words.** Depending on who you are and what kind of stories you like, you may have to strap in and get comfy.

☆《COPYRIGHT INFO》☆

This fan-made story is a work of fiction. I am, in no way, affiliated with Nintendo or any other franchise, brand, or company. All "Super Mario Bros." characters, settings, and other materials associated with it belong to Nintendo. All other mentioned copyrighted material belongs to their respectful owners. No copyright infringement intended; all rights reserved. Per my personal request, do not reupload or sell my work on any other website. Official reuploads of my work can be found on Wattpad, Fanfiction.Net, and here on Ao3. My stories are free and always will be. If I catch any reuploads of my work, I will not hesitate to take corrective action. If you find anyone else that isn't me reuploading my work, please notify me via my DMs. Thank you.


	2. ☆《CHAPTER 1》☆

_... Dearest_ _Eldstar_ _. I've arrived_ _in_ _the Mushroom Kingdom._ _Nothing seems different other than... you know... it's rather quiet around here. Almost too quiet._

_Well, it is early in the morning, my child. I wouldn't be surprised if it was this quiet._

_I know, I know. I just..._

_You sound nervous. Are you certain you want to do this? Remember, you do have time to change your mind._

_Well, I guess I am, but I don't want to stand by and watch everyone suffer if I can at least try to help it._

_My, my. As determined as ever, I see. I should've known you weren't going to back down once you got started._

_I... I apologize..._

_No, no. Do not apologize. If this is truly what your heart wants, then follow it._

_I... thank you, Eldstar._

_You're welcome. Safe travels, my child. And remember the rules._

_Yes, Elstar._

_~~~_

_**Thud.** _

The sound caused the floor to shake above, scaring the kind housekeeper who was on the first floor of the Inn she owned. She rushed upstairs, eager to see what happened to Reader. Much to her surprise, they were laying on the floor, slowly waking up due to the pain in the back of their head.

"Oh, deary, what happened to you? Are you alright?" questioned the worried housekeeper, holding Reader's hand and pulling them up towards her. She inspected Reader carefully, poking and pinching each one of their limbs. "Well, it doesn't seem like you broke anything, thankfully. Hopefully, you didn't bump your head too hard on the floor."

Reader groaned and rubbed the back of their head. They looked at the housekeeper, then smiled reassuringly.

"I suppose I should calm down a little bit, you seem just fine..." she uttered back, "though, I, Ms. Taam, do hold myself accountable to anything that happens to you, though you aren't my child or anything."

Reader shakes their head. Ms. Taam let out a relieved sigh and helped Reader to their feet. "Sorry for barging in like that. Oh! But on another note, why don't you do yourself a favor and check the mail? I saw a letter in a pretty pink envelope addressed to you."

Reader nodded and walked downstairs and outside the house. They opened the mailbox and grabbed said letter and opened it up...

~

_To_ _our newest resident, Reader,_

_I want to formally_ _thank_ _you for deciding to join our vibrant community here in the Mushroom Kingdom. Please see me at the castle._

_Yours truly,_

_Princess Peach Toadstool_

_~_

"Ah, a formal letter to the castle from the Princess herself, huh?" Reader heard Ms. Taam say from behind them. They turned around to face her and nodded happily. "My, my! I mustn't hold you up then. The castle is up north of here. It's mighty huge and you can't miss it, but if you somehow find yourself lost, then I'm sure a kind local will lead the way." She cheerfully explained. She then reached into one of her pockets in her apron and handed Reader a piece of delicately wrapped candy, "And take some candy with you. I made it myself, just for this occasion."

Reader thanked her, put it into their pocket, and waved goodbye. With that, they left the house and began walking north, keeping an eye out of the castle.

Within a few minutes, Reader made it to the heart of Toadtown Square, the busiest area of town. It was filled with families, shops, and some residential housing. While walking around the square, Reader noticed a group of three men gathered around the fountain a little bit further north.

"Now, little guy, just show us what you have in the bag and we'll be on our way!" demanded the short, burly man in his raspy voice. He inched towards the man in front of him, presumably attempting to grab the small, leather pouch that was hiding under his mysterious red cape. Reader, being struck with curiosity, paused, and decided to watch.

"Hands off!" yelled the harassed man as he pushed his arm away from his pouch, "Leave me alone or I'll..."

"You'll what?" the third, lanky man asked. "Why don't you throw the first punch, then?"

"Wait, wait! Maybe we can talk this out over some tea o-or... hey, friendly bystander! C-can you help me out here?" The harassed one pleaded to Reader who kind of froze on the spot. While they weren't planning to get involved, it was obviously too late to act like they were on the way to the store nearby, so they awkwardly walked over and separated the man from the bothersome duo.

"Oh, trying to play Hero of the Day, eh? Fine, _you_ drop everything you have on the ground!" the burly one demanded. He took a threatening stance and balled up his fists where Reader could see. The harassed man stepped further behind them, quivering with fear.

Trembling, Reader quickly reached into their pockets and pulled out the small pocket change they had and the candy Ms. Taam gave them and tossed it on the ground. The duo paused and stared at what Reader gave up.

"Aw come on now, I know you have more than this! Waluigi! Get whatever else they have!"

"Waa! With honor!" The lanky one stepped close and forcefully dug around Reader's pockets. After finding nothing but air and lent balls, he turned around to the burly one, "Waa... this broke fool really don't have anything else, Wario!"

Wario was furious. "What?! Pathetic! I'll take what I can get then." He snatched the money off the ground and shoved it into his pocket. "Have a rotten day!" he said before running the opposite direction.

"Wait for me!" called Waluigi. After turning around and grabbing the candy Wario left behind, he ran off as well.

Reader sighed in disappointment, but they were glad they were gone, at least. Both Wario and Waluigi smelt like garlic and having to breathe that in after so long was starting to take a toll on Reader's willpower.

"Whew... that was a close call..." the red-caped man stepped off from behind Reader, then nervously played with his fingers. "Thanks for your help. I-I'm... terribly sorry that I dragged you into that."

Reader shakes their head in a friendly way. A small smile grew on the caped man's face as he relaxed with relief, "You can call me Red. I traveled here to meet the locals."

Reader politely shook hands with Red, who wore a red cape and a puffy matching hood over his head. He also had a darker red scarf wrapped around his face right below his nose, a white, loose shirt, blue puffy pants, and black work boots. Reader's eyes glanced over the charm attached to the necklace that Red was wearing, which was a golden rhombus that resembled a star. It's glistening nearly kept Reader rudely staring at it, but they managed to revert their attention to the matter at hand. They briefly explained that they were on the way to Peach's castle.

"Funny, I was actually on my way there myself! But then I got rather lost because I got distracted by the souvenir shop. I asked... Wario--I think his name was--how to get to the castle but then he and the other guy started demanding money from me--" Red stopped himself, "Err... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble like that. If you don't mind me asking, do _you_ happen to know where the castle is?"

Reader nodded and pointed north. There stood the beautiful castle just a few blocks away from the fountain.

"Ah! I can't believe that I missed that!" Red stared at the castle in awe before looking back at Reader, "Thank you again, kind stranger. May our paths cross again."

Red kindly bowed and left for the castle. Reader watched, being curious about the strange little man. Or boy. There was no telling if his age just from looking at him. After pondering about the recent events, Reader remembered that they had an appointment at the castle. They refocused and set out that way.

◇~◇~◇


	3. ☆《CHAPTER 2》☆

When Reader arrived at the castle, they stopped and looked around in amazement. They had never been inside a castle before, so being personally invited to meet the princess of the kingdom was an honor for them. After pulling themselves together, they started heading towards the stairs that led to the throne room. 

"What do you mean I can't come in without a visitor's pass?"

Reader paused and turned towards the voice. In front of the castle halls, there stood a guard Toad and Red, the capped guy from earlier. Just like last time, Reader couldn't help but to stop and watch what was going on.

"I'm sorry sir, but due to recent events, the Princess announced that visitor's passes are now mandatory for castle visits, regardless of reason. Without one, you aren't allowed inside the castle," explained the guard.

"Well, how long does it take to get a visitor's pass?" Red asked.

"As of right now, it can range from two to five weeks."

"Two to five weeks?! But what if I need to see the Princess urgently?!"

"You would have to make a special inquiry with Toadsworth or another representative."

"Well, can I meet Toadsworth to set something up?"

"Not without a visitor's pass."

"That defeats the purpose of _urgent_!"

"Sir, I don't make the rules. Now, please excuse yourself off of castle grounds."

Red sighed and walked back towards the door and the guard parted the other way. He stopped to get one last glimpse of the castle, but then he noticed Reader standing near the stairway. He waves at them and politely motions them over. Reader, who didn't have much of an option at this point, follows suit and meets up with Red.

"Hey, remember me? The lost guy in the plaza?" he greeted, "How's minutes been treating ya?"

Reader smiled and silently nodded as a response. Red also smiled, "Hey, I have another question for you... Do you happen to be on your way to visit the Princess?"

Reader nodded and pulled the pink letter out from their pocket.

"Wow, on a personal invite, too?! That's amazing!" Red gushed a bit before awkwardly looking up at Reader, "This may sound weird but... do you think I can tag along with you?"

Reader paused. Red saw the uncertainty grow on Reader's face. "W-Wait, hear me out. I need to see the Princess urgently, and I mean... like, now. That's kind of why I was here in the first place. But I can't get in without waiting a few weeks for a dumb pass! Even for urgent matters! It's silly! Who designed that stupid system anyway?!" he stops himself, "E-Er, anyways, could you just claim that... I don't know... that I'm a kid that you're watching over? Just this once?"

Reader thought for a moment then nodded in agreement.

"R-Really?! You're the best!" Red smiled widely. "Now, just act normal and we'll be fine."

Reader nodded. With Red following behind them, Reader resumed going upstairs. Before getting inside the throne room, they were stopped by two guards.

"Halt! What is your business here, citizen?" one of them asked.

Reader showed them the letter. After observing it for a moment, he hands it back to them. "Ah, here from a personal invitation. Our apologies."

"But what business does this one have?" The other guard eyed Red.

"O-Oh, they're my babysitter." Red states and Reader nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my bad, kid. I wasn't aware."

"Go right on ahead, citizen." The guards lifted their spears and opened the doors.

Reader smiled, waved, then walked inside the doors. Red followed close behind and the guards shut the doors behind them. When they arrived, Princess Peach was sitting on the throne in front of them, smiling.

"Ah, Reader! I've been expecting you," she greeted.

"When you get a personal invite from the Princess, you mustn't keep her waiting unreasonable times!" shouted the angered, elderly toad standing right next to her.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Toadsworth. Must you start this again?" Princess Peach said before reverting her attention back to Reader, "Please don't mind him. He's been rather... on edge ever since the Brothers' disappearance."

"The Brothers?" Red inquired.

"O-Oh, my. Who may this be?" Princess Peach tilts her head.

"Just a kid that Reader tags along. You can call me Red!" he smiled.

"You sound much older than you seem, kid..." Toadsworth folded his arms.

"Toadsworth! Don't make our guests uncomfortable!" Princess Peach snarled. 

"No, it's fine! I get that a lot," Red playfully laughs.

Toadsworth didn't seem convinced, but Princess Peach giggles at his statement.

"S-So, anyways, you said something about some Brothers?" Red questioned again.

"Ah, yes... the Brothers," Princess Peach suddenly sounded saddened. "You guys just moved here recently, so I'd assume you wouldn't know who they were."

"Did they live here in the Kingdom?"

"They did, but they were much more than your average citizens. They were... well... heroes." she started, "They've worked together to keep the kingdom safe from many disasters. If it wasn't for them, I don't think the Mushroom Kingdom would be here right now."

"Really? Were they like, superheroes? With the costumes and everything?" Red gushed, "And the disguises they'd wear in the day when they're not being superheroes?"

Princess Peach chuckled, "Well, they sure acted like superheroes when the Kingdom was in danger. But they didn't wear costumes. They wore the same average clothes in fights as they did for everything else. They were really down to earth. When the Kingdom isn't being attacked, they're just like everyday people. In fact, they run a plumbing business together."

"Aww, really? They must be really cool! Imagine being attacked by a giant killer robot and then two plumbers come and take it down like it was nothing!" Red laughs, "Man, I wish I could meet them."

"They're both super nice," Princess Peach smiled, but started saddening again, "But... they disappeared a little while ago..."

"They did? Any idea of what happened to them?" Red tilts his head.

"No, not really. They just... vaporized into thin air," Princess Peach started to get quieter, "We've been looking all over and... and... we can't seem to figure out what happened to them..."

Red sadly watched as Princess Peach put her face into her hands. Toadsworth pats her on the back.

"Oh, Mario and Luigi... I wish I could see their faces one more time..." she sobbed. "I miss them dearly."

Reader and Red looked at each other for a moment before Red turned back to her, "Don't worry Princess! I'm sure they'll come back!"

Princess Peach wiped her face and looked at him, "You... really think so?"

"I do! Perhaps Mario and Luigi are on a mission of their own. Something tells me that they'll be back soon, though!"

"O-Oh, Red..." more tears ran down the Princess's face, but this time, she was smiling with hope. "T-Thank you. I really needed that."

"Keep your hopes up, Princess!" Red reassured happily.

"You're such a great kid, Red," Princess Peach smiled softly, "And, Reader, I'm sorry for derailing our conversation."

Reader shakes their head and smiled back.

"Now, back to the matter at hand... I wanted to formally welcome you to the Mushroom Kingdom," she announced, "Both you and Red, make yourselves at home. We have a variety of shopping districts in Toadtown Square. There, you can also find a post office and an Inn... let's see... was there anything else we needed to tell them, Toadsworth?"

"Yes, in fact. Reader, you've been staying with Ms. Taam for the last few days, yes?" Toadsworth asked.

Reader nodded.

"Good, good. Well, because you've been officially confirmed to be a resident, you should talk to Ms. Taam and get the keys to your new house," Toadsworth said, "I'd hate for you to continue living up in her basement. I'd imagine that it'd be quite stuffy for both you and Red."

Reader and Red both chuckled.

"Yes, rather stuffy indeed." Red smiled a bit.

"Well, I don't want to hold you guys up any longer," Princess Peach said, "Go ahead and get settled into your new house so that you can fully experience the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Will do! Thank you, Princess!" Red said before he and Reader bowed respectfully. They both started walking towards the doorway.

"Oh, uh, Red?" she called.

"Yes?" he turned back around, leaving the Reader to leave the room.

"Thanks again for raising my spirits. I'm sure Reader is grateful to have you around."

"Heh, my pleasure! Farewell, Princess. May our paths cross again."

◇~◇~◇


	4. ☆《CHAPTER 3》☆

Red eventually caught up with Reader in front of the castle. "Reader!"

Reader turned around and Red runs up to them, "Sorry about the holdup!"

Reader shakes their head forgivingly.

"Thanks for letting me tag along! You were cool as a cucumber in there," Red cheerfully said, "No one suspected a thing--well, mostly. I got a little nervous when Toadsworth mentioned how I looked too old to be a kid."

Reader chucked in agreement.

"Well, I guess it's best that I get going, Reader. It was nice sticking around with you," Red bowed once more and began walking off towards the plaza, but quickly turned around and came back. "Actually... Mind if I stick around you for a little bit?"

Reader tilted their head.

"Well, the Mushroom Kingdom is a big place... and even though you just moved in, I bet you know a lot more than I do," he thought aloud, "You know, safety in numbers!"

Reader thought for a moment, then smiled as a "That's fine with me."

"Great!" Red smiled widely, "Now, Toadsworth mentioned something about Ms. Taam, right? We should make that our next stop!"

Reader nodded and they and Red started heading back to Ms. Taam's Inn. When they arrived, they went inside and stood in front of the desk that was a few feet away from the doorway. Ms. Taam smiled widely from the kitchen she was cleaning nearby and walked over to the desk. "Why, welcome back Reader! How did your meeting with the Princess go?"

"It went great, Taam!" Red said happily.

"Oh, and you brought back a little friend. I thought I saw you in the plaza earlier today. Did you ever get that ruckus sorted out?"

"What ruckus--OH, you mean with Wario and Waluigi? Yeah, I took care of it. Well, Reader took care of it, but I'm fine regardless."

"Ah, good to know. Wario and Waluigi are never up to any good and I was scared when they started ganging up on you like that. If I was younger, I probably would've stepped in," Ms. Taam joked.

"Aw, well, luckily Reader was nearby and I asked them for help. So I think we're friends now," Red looked up at Reader who smiled back at him kindly.

"Well, as long as you two get along!" Ms. Taam said.

Red smiled gratefully before remembering why they came there, "Oh, on another note, Toadsworth said something about a house being ready for Reader."

"Oh, yes! Reader's registration has been approved, so I moved all of their belongings to their new home," she announced, "I hope you enjoy it, Reader."

"Oh, thank you so much, Ms. Taam!"

"Oh, not a problem, hun. It's what I like to do. Now, here's your keys, Reader." Ms. Taam reached into her pocket and handed Reader the silver keys. "Take good care of them. Replacements aren't free, you know."

"I'm good at keeping track of keys, Reader!" Red reassured. "If you need a key guardian, I'm the boy to ask!"

Ms. Taam laughed at Red. "Well, there you have it. Your house is located in the Ice Flower District of the Toadtown residential area. The house number is on the back of the tag on your keychain."

"Thank you again, Ms. Taam," Red turned around to Reader, smiling in excitement, "C'mon, Reader! Let's go check out our new house!"

"Safe travels, you two. And come see me if you need anything at all!" Ms. Taam waved as they both left the Inn and started walking to their new house. On the way there, Red talked nearly the entire time while Reader listened. When they arrived, Reader unlocked the door and let the scent of fresh house blow into their face. This house marked a new chapter in Reader's life: the first chapter of them being independent. Admittedly, Reader was nervous about the whole "going independent" idea, but after meeting Red, they suddenly felt a wave of relief and a little bit of confidence knowing that they had someone else to travel along with them.

After settling down in the house, Red and Reader sat in the living room together drinking a cup of tea and a hot plate of food.

"Man, today was an exciting day!" Red gushed after taking a sip of his tea. "I met you and the Princess... I have a good feeling about this!"

Reader smiled as Red continued babbling along, "It feels almost our friendship was destined to happen. That or I really forced it upon you."

Reader laughed and shakes their head. Red laughed along and took another small sip of his tea. "... Man, I just realized that you're not much of talker. That's fine, I don't mind talking."

For the rest of the evening, Red talked away, jumping from subject to subject. Reader truly didn't mind -- something about watching Red chat on and on like that was comforting, even when they weren't saying much in return. When it was well past eleven at night, Red started to realize how late it was.

"O-Oh! I'm sorry for rambling like that," he said after catching his breath. "I guess once I get started, I can't stop. Let's get some rest--I have a good feeling about tomorrow."

Reader agreed and stood up after gathering their leftover dishes. After stopping by the kitchen to drop off the dishes in the sink, he waved Red goodnight and headed up the stairs and to their room. Red also made his way upstairs and into the guest room that was right across from Reader's. He flopped down onto his bed and watched the moon in the night sky and waited for his mind to drift off. However, time proved that his busy mind was not wanting to settle down...

◇~◇~◇


	5. ☆《CHAPTER 4》☆

_... Dearest Eldstar... may I talk to you for a minute?_

_Of course, my boy. What could be the matter?_

_I've been curious about how dreams are formed._

_Oh, dreams are so complex that there's no right or wrong answer to this question. It really boils down to the individual._

_I see, I see. I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all, I suppose. Perhaps I'll find out soon._

**_Thud._ **

The loud sound that shook the entire house scared Red awake. He ended up toppling out of bed. He then glanced up at the ceiling and there he saw a large, purple stone. It was an odd shade of purple and was emitting a dark aura from it. Red got himself off the floor and ran across the hall to wake Reader up, who apparently slept through it all.

"Reader, Reader, wake up! You gotta see this!" Red jolted their shoulder eagerly. Soon enough, Reader opened their eyes and rolled over to face the terrified Red. "There's a giant rock in my room's ceiling!" he explained, "I-I have no idea where it even came from! Come see for yourself!"

Red rushed out of the room and Reader slowly slid out of bed and followed. They wiped the sleep from their eyes and looked at Red's ceiling. In shock, their eyes widened and their mouth dropped. Reader then rushes downstairs and goes to observe it from outdoors. Red followed them outside and also took a look at the mysterious stone.

"Man, thank goodness the roof was sturdy enough to keep it from crashing _inside_ the house. I would've been crushed!" Red exclaimed, "Sheesh, and out of all the places it could've landed, too... I hope your homeowner's insurance covers damages done by scary, falling rocks."

Red and Reader resumed observing the rock stuck inside the roof in shock for a moment.

"And the coordinates lead us..." yelled a short, elderly man in a white lab coat, black pants, and dated shoes as he ran over to Reader's yard. "Here!"

Reader and Red turned toward the man who was also wearing large round glasses and had weirdly styled hair atop of his otherwise bald head. His assistant Toads shortly caught up with him, all sweating from the amount of research equipment they were carrying. "Is... this where the scary stone landed?" one of them asks, panting.

"Sure is. And it landed in these poor folks' roof, too. What a shame," replied the old man, adjusting his glasses. "I don't think that'd be covered by the insurance companies around here."

"Gee, thanks Mr. Positive," Red said, annoyed. "Wait a minute, who are you, anyway?"

The old man fixed his gaze back over to Red and Reader. "Ah, I am none other than the Mushroom Kingdom's leading scientist. You've probably heard of me before."

"Ahaha... well, actually, we just moved here so we haven't, hence why I'm asking," Red responded, trying to stay polite.

"Ah, that was a poor assumption on my end, then. I am none other than Professor Elvin Gadd, Princess Peach's go-to for anything science, gadgets, paranormal activity, timespace continuum, and other things you young folks wouldn't understand nowadays," he announced surprisingly all in one breath.

" _He's sure is a handful,_ " Red muttered aloud before clearing his throat, "Well, Professor, can you tell us what this rock is doing in our roof and how it got there and WHAT it is?"

"Well, if I'd knew, I would've told you fellas already," E. Gadd answered, "This is only one of the reported scary stone sightings reported, so we need to pick up this one then head out to Acorn Plains for the other, then we can start our research on them."

"Ah..."

"But! Not to worry, for as I am one of the most brilliant minds in this entire Kingdom--perhaps this entire _world--_ to be on the case. We'll have it all sorted out in no time!" he confidently smiled.

For a moment, Red silently stared at the stone before talking again, "You know, I think I've heard of something like this before. Giant, scary stones falling out of nowhere... maybe it's a warning sign..."

E. Gadd promptly burst out laughing, "Don't be silly, my boy! It's probably nothing other than a piece of a meteor from our recent meteor shower."

"I'm not trying challenging your expertise or anything, but meteors _don't_ normally look like that... especially with that creepy purple glow around it..."

E. Gadd paused and took another stern look at the stone. "Hm... you're right about the purple glow--that's something that I've never seen before..." he fell quiet for a moment as he studied the stone before shaking his head. "Well, the longer we stand here, the longer the mystery will remain unsolved. So, if you excuse us..."

E. Gadd and his assistants started the process of removing the stone from the roof, but it was obviously going to take a long while before they finish. Red looked over Reader, "Well, there's not much we can do around here. Let's go talk to Ms. Taam and see what she has to say about the damages."

Reader agreed, and they both set off back to the inn in Toadtown. When they arrived, Ms. Taam was reading a book at her front desk and noticed the two walk in. She stood up and smiled sweetly, "Ah, Reader! And Red! How has your new home been treating you?"

"Very well, thank you!" Red answered, "Except, ah, one minor problem."

"What may that be, dear?"

"There was a giant rock that crashlanded into the roof."

Ms. Taam's eyes widened in shock, "Oh no! Was anyone hurt or anything?"

Red shakes his head. "No, Reader and I are fine! We just wanted to know how to go about repairing it."

"Well, I can send out one of my repairmen to fix it up, free of charge," Ms. Taam smiled, "... Once Professor E. Gadd is done doing whatever he's doing over there."

"Oh, thank you so much! Wait, you know the Professor?" Red tilted his head.

"Not personally, but I know him. He stopped here and asked if I knew anything about you guys," she said, "I guess this is why he was asking."

"Huh. Well... I guess we'll be stuck outdoors for a bit." Red paused and thought for a moment speaking again, "Hey, Ms. Taam, is there a library nearby?"

"A library? Of course! It's on the northwest side of Toadtown," she answered, "I thought you youngsters nowadays didn't care about libraries anymore!" Ms. Taam crackled.

"Oh, I actually like to read! I'm just curious about something," Red turned to Reader, "Come on, Reader. Let's head to the library!"

"Stay safe, you two! Hopefully that hole in the roof will be fixed soon!" Ms. Taam called after the two as they left.

Red and Reader hastily made their way to the library. When they arrived, Red stopped to look around in awe. " _Wow! this place is huge!_ " he said to Reader in his indoor library voice. " _Now, what did I come here for...? Ah, right!_ " he turns to Reader, " _You can go ahead and entertain yourself while I'm gone. It may take a bit._ "

Reader nodded and Red rushed up to the second floor where most of the non-fiction books were. Reader watched, then decided it was best to make the most of their visit, so they went ahead and picked up a book at random and settled down in the dedicated reading area. About fifteen minutes afterward, Red came downstairs with five different books in his arms. Unusually focused, he sat down and started flipping through each of his books. After skimming through a book, he set it aside. Eventually, he made it down to his final book where he finally paused and carefully read it. During this time, Reader had switched out their book multiple times out of boredom. When the boredom finally became unbearable, they got up and sat down in a beanbag near Red. Red was so focused on his book that he didn't even notice that Reader had joined him, so Reader helped themself and picked up one of the books Red sat aside. _The Seven Stars and the Iveditable Destruction_ , it was titled. It sounded like a fantasy book to Reader, which made them wonder why it was in the non-fiction section of the library. They glanced back at Red, who had finally taken his eyes off the book. He pulled out a torn piece of paper from his handbag, slid it in between the pages, and shut the book. He stared at the cover, his eyes trying to mask the anxiety that was filling his mind. Reader tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump and look at them. " _Oh, hey, Reader. I... was just about to go look for you, actually._ " he said in a low tone as he reopened the book to the saved page. " _Mind humoring me for a minute?_ "

Reader shakes their head and Red gently pushes the book over to Reader, " _Read this page._ "

Reader rested their head on their hand and began reading said page...

_Every ten thousand years, beautiful pieces of the stars rain down all over the earth. Some theorized that they were small pieces of a massive star that had flown over the earth, while others said that it was pieces of the sky. While the true source of these magnificent fragments remains unknown, folklore suggests that a connection exists between the fragments and the Lunar Doorway, which is what we know as the moon and the sun. However, folklore also suggests that when the fallen fragments appear to be dark, faded, and eerie, it is a sign of a worldwide disaster guaranteed to destroy everything on the face of the planet..._

The image of the fallen stone appeared in Reader's mind. They looked back at Red, who was twiddling his thumbs nervously. He eventually chuckled nervously, " _B-But that's all just folklore... right?_ "

◇~◇~◇


	6. ☆《CHAPTER 5》☆

Red and Reader left the library. Red hung on to the book he was reading, thinking about the passage he read. When they stepped into town, Wario and Waluigi blocked their way, both folding their arms and staring at them firmly. Red jumped behind Reader. "Agh! What do you want from me, now?!" he cried.

"Relax, kid! We just want a bit of information from you," Wario stated, leaning into Reader's personal space, "If that's not too much to ask."

Red hesitantly peeked out from behind Reader's back, "O-Of course not! W-What do you need to know?"

Wario and Waluigi chuckled at each other before swiftly averting their attention back to Reader and Red. "You know anything about rare stones?" Wario questioned.

"Not much, no." Red nervously responded, "But I-I bet the library has some books about that."

Wario raises a brow. "Really, now? I kind of thought you were educated in stones and jewels alike. I mean, just look at that beauty around your neck."

Red grips his sparking necklace stone securely. "I didn't choose it, it was a gift from a relative of mine."

"Not only that, but one landed on the roof of these guys' house, Wario!" Waluigi added.

"Mm-hm, thought we didn't know about that, huh?" Wario chuckled, folding his arms, "Now, start talking, kid. What do you know about it?"

"Nothing, I swear it!" Red said, "It just crashlanded into our roof! Gadd said something about researching it after he gets the other out in Acorn Plains."

"Gadd? You mean the crackhead-looking scientist? Bah! We can't go see the stone now!" Waluigi snarled, looking down at Wario.

"But the kid said something about another in Acorn Plains! Let's go check it out before that old man gets it!" he responds confidently. Waluigi nodded, then they both started running the opposite direction. Red steps off from behind Reader again, watching the duo scrambling off.

"Oh no, they're gonna go mess with that stone! What if it's dangerous?! We just can't let them mess with unknown forces!" he said, frightened, "I-I gotta go stop em!"

Reader nodded and they both ran the same direction Wario and Waluigi went, which led to the east gate. When they caught up, Wario and Waluigi were standing right outside the gate and Red stopped Reader behind a wall to eavesdrop their conversation.

"So Acorn Plains is where we headin'?" Waluigi asks.

"Yep, here's the plan: we head over to Acorn Plains and pick up this stone, wa? Then we snag it and resell it for a bunch of dough!" Wario explains as a devilish grin spreads across his face. "And then we'll finally be able to afford that limited edition golden kart that will totally _crush_ Mario and his annoying little punk in Star Cup!"

"Waa! I can't wait to show those two who's boss! We'll beat them so bad that they'll have to change the name from _Mario Kart_ to _Wario Kart_! We'll be famous! And even richer!" Waluigi gushed and Wario laughed along.

"Wahahaha! They don't call me Wario the Genius for nothing!"

"Whaa? People call you Wario the Genius?"

"Well... _you've_ never heard anyone say it, but--Nevermind that! Let's get going before that stupid professor and his students find it first."

Wario and Waluigi began rushing off towards the outskirts of the kingdom. Red and Reader stepped out from their hiding spot. "I can't believe they're trying to sell this potentially dangerous stone for a stupid _kart_!" Red snarled, "After them, Reader!"

Red and Reader promptly followed the mischievous duo out towards the vast Acorn Plains. Hence its name, it was nothing but grass, acorn trees, and several different kinds of animals. By the time Red and Reader made it to the entrance of the plains, they had already lost sight of Wario and Waluigi. Reader and Red paused at the start of the pains for a moment, "I didn't think this out well, huh...?" said Red, observing the waves of grass that continued on seemingly forever, "Hm... well, hopefully they haven't gotten either."

In the meantime, Wario and Waluigi scouted the plains endlessly. The two were desperate to find the second stone, but after a long, unsuccessful search, Waluigi started to lose his steam. "Waa... we've been out here for hours..." he complained, "Why don't we give this up?"

"Because this stone will probably be worth a crazy amount of money! Are you seriously gonna pass up on this opportunity?"

"But--"

"No buts! Get back to searching you dimwit!" Wario demanded. Waluigi groaned and resumed searching. For several more minutes, the pair searched and searched and searched. For a while, they found nothing, but then they wandered towards the west of the plains, reaching the escort point that connected the west to the northern plains.

"Wario! Come here!" Waluigi, who was several feet away from the grouchy man, called.

Wario dropped everything and ran over to Waluigi. The two laid eyes on the dirt indent on the ground in front of them. "It looks like the shape of a man," Wario states, obviously unimpressed, "As if he fell right out of the sky-- OH MY GOD!"

"WAH?!"

Wario ran over to the oversized stone that looked identical to the one that had fallen on Red and Reader's house. With dollar signs in his eyes and a mischievous grin on his face, Wario ran over and quickly began hauling it out the bush it fell in. "What are you doing just standing there?! Hurry up and grab the other end!" he called out to Waluigi, who promptly began to help him. Once the two had gotten it out the bush, Wario glanced around then looked back at the struggling Waluigi, "Follow my lead, I know the perfect place to hide this sucker."

Meanwhile, Reader and Red had been wandering the plains for quite some time. In fact, Reader and Red agreed to split up in hopes of one of them bumping into Wario or Waluigi. However, Reader's mind started to drift elsewhere as a result of being hot and bored. They decided to sit down under a tree for a quick break, but right as they were beginning to get comfy, they heard the voice of Red call for them from the distance. Swiftly jumping back to their feet, they followed the direction of Red's voice, which ultimately let him to a large, dark cave with an ugly sign in front of the entrance. Upon their arrival, Red turned to Reader, "Hey, so... I have a fishy feeling about this sign here. It says do not enter, but it looks like it was written by a five-year-old and I just... can't take it seriously," he says, "You think we should go in anyway? It's mighty dark in there..."

Reader looked over Red's shoulder into the dark, suspicious cave. The eerie ambiance of the cave echoed gently, unsettling the two. "Even though I have a bad feeling about this... I'm actually oddly curious about what's in there..." Red muttered as he stared deep into the darkness. He paused for a moment then reached into his travel bag underneath his cape. He then pulled out a shiny iron dagger that looked like it had been customized just for him. He smiled and handed it to Reader, "Here, I'd hate for you to get hurt in there, so use this as a way to defend yourself."

Reader took the dagger and looked at it in disbelief, then looked back at Red with concern.

"Oh, me? I have other means of defense. Don't worry about it." Red reassured, "Now, let's explorer this totally-not-creepy cave, shall we?"

◇~◇~◇


	7. ☆《CHAPTER 6》☆

Reader and Red slowly and carefully stepped inside the dark cave. Darkness swallowed them whole and Reader made sure to stay near Red. Even though they still weren't exactly sure of his age, they felt some sort of responsibility over him, so they stayed on guard as they explored. Eventually, the light from the entrance of the cave started to fade and the only thing leading them was the faint glow from Red's necklace. He took the lead and Reader followed him close by. The eerie vibe of the cave was unsettling. It made small sounds more threatening than ever. The faintly glowing mushrooms grew near some of the walls, providing a bit of light. Red, who had no clue of where he was going, trusted his gut to lead him. Eventually, his gut proved to be righteous as he eventually heard the voice of Waluigi from deeper within the cave. He quickly shuffled closer to the entrance to the chamber ahead and pressed himself against the covering wall to listen in.

"W-Wario?! Snap out of it! What's gotten into you?!"

Waluigi's plea was followed by a near-demonic roar. Waluigi ran outside the chamber and stopped when he noticed Red and Reder standing there. "Wah! What are you doing here?!" he shouted before abruptly resumed panicking, "Nevermind that! There's something wrong with Wario!"

"What's wrong with him?" asked Red. Without a response, Waluigi grabbed Reader and Red's arms and pulled them inside the chamber. In the center of the chamber was Wario, whose body was covered in dark, mysterious shadows. His arms were patterned with purple metallic stripes, his eyes were glowing red, and he had sharp claws like a beast. He roared once again, which was enough to make all three jump away from him. "Holy smokes, what the heck is wrong with him?!" Red cried, shivering on the ground.

"I-I don't know! We were just bringing that creepy stone in here and then he just... snapped!" Waluigi explained rapidly.

"You touched that stone?! Why?!" Red screamed angrily, "Now we know why Wario is all dark and shadowy!"

Wario roared once again. Waluigi stood up, his lanky legs shaking like a leaf. "P-Perhaps if I try t-talking to him again..."

"No, Waluigi! Stay away from him!" Red begged, jumping up to his feet.

Waluigi slowly tried to approach him. Before he could speak, Wario fiercely swiped his claw over his chest, drawing some blood and knocking him back. Red gasped and grabbed Waluigi by his arms and pulled him away from Wario as fast as he could. "Y-Your chest!"

Waluigi coughed and held his hand over his chest, "W-Why... did he...?"

Red quickly reached into his bag, pulled out a spare cape, and tended the wounds as best as he could. He then stood up and faced the infuriated Wario, who was planning his next attack. "We gotta do something about him before we all end up dead!" Red said before a lightbulb went off in his head and he gasped, "My dagger! Reader! Hand it here!"

Reader frantically got up and handed Red the dagger. Red held it up above his head and closed his eyes. Reader watched as some of Red's hair began glowing with magical fire. The fire flowed through his arms and out his hands. In his right hand, the dagger absorbed the fire and glowed brightly as it took a different form. The dagger had become a red, glowing sword. In his left hand, a shield of fire took form. Red then quickly handed them to Reader, who was confused and a bit scared of where this was going.

"Reader! You need to go stab Wario in the chest with this sword!" Red demanded. Both Reader and Waluigi looked at him in shock. "I promise, this will _not_ kill him! And you, Waluigi, where's the stone?!"

"O-Over there!" he pointed to the wall near the other side of the cave. The stone was right there, glowing intensely and there was a barrier around it.

Red nodded, and turned back to Reader, "Here's the plan: You go and fight Wario. When he's vulnerable, give him a rough stab in his chest! This won't kill him or anything, this will just stun him and _hopefully_ break the barrier of the stone! Once the barrier is broken, I'll go destroy the stone."

"Are you sure that'll work?" Waluigi questioned, "And won't hurt Wario?"

"I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'm absolutely positive that it won't kill Wario," Red replied, taking a fighting stance, "Ready, Reader?"

Reader gulped and nodded. Their sweaty hands gripped the sword and the shield, and Wario lunged at them. As a reflex, Reader quickly blocked with the shield, causing the beast to ram straight into it and falling to the ground. He quickly picked himself back up and began swiping at the shield like a bloodthirsty animal. Reader tried to hold him off as long as he could. At the edge of their eye, they saw Red making their way towards the stone and attempting to weaken the barrier himself.

 _I can't let him down,_ thought Reader.

They finally began to retaliate with the same hostility, pushing Wario away and swinging their sword. Wario continued to battle Reader and even managed to land some cuts on their body, some deeper than others. Reader also managed to land some hits, but they were ineffective -- the cuts that they made healed all by themselves. When Reader and Wario lunged and stuck at the same time, their blades scratched against each other and pushed towards whoever wasn't pushing back hard enough. Wario pushed down on Reader's sword, making it lean right in between Reader's eyes. Reader held their breath and continued to push back, but Wario's weight and strength were far greater than theirs. As their legs began to shake and weaken, they let out a mercy cry, which caught Red's attention from afar. He quickly turned and created a fireball in his hands and launched at Wario. Upon impact, the fireball exploded and both Reader and Wario fell to the ground weakly.

"Reader! Now's your chance!" he yelled.

Ignoring the pain in their body, Reader stood up, let out a heroic war cry, and bolted towards Wario with their sword over their head. Wario attempted to get out of the way, but Reader jumped up and stabbed Wario right in the middle of his chest. He roared and screeched in pain. Fire from the sword began surrounding his body like prison chains. The fire weakened Wario's body, which eventually broke the stone's bond and barrier as a result. "Perfect!" Red lifted his arms and let the fire burn out of them. When his flames was hotter than the sun, Red slammed his arms down to the ground, erupting a tower of flame from beneath the stone. The stone lasted a few seconds before cracking and exploding into smaller, neutralized pieces. The flames faded, the cave darkened, and there was nothing but silence. Reader looked back at Wario, who was seemingly out cold. They lifted the sword out of his chest, freeing him from the firey imprisonment. They stepped away and watched as the shadows escaped his body, leaving behind the original, unaffected Wario.

Red and Waluigi both walked over to see what was going on, and soon after, Wario let out a weak groan and slowly came to. "Urrg... Where am I...?" he asked, looking around.

"Wario! You're back to normal!" Waluigi cheered happily.

"Waa...? Back to normal?" What are ya babbling about?" Wario asked in confusion. He briefly glanced over to Reader and Red and growled silently. "And why are you two here?!"

"Well, we were coming to warn you about the stone, but... seems like there's no need for that anymore," said Red, eyeing the now broken stone from afar.

Wario looked over in the same direction and observed the mess. He fell silent, then jumped up and angrily tried to tackle Red. "You broke the stone?! Why couldn't you just stay your ass in daycare, you little...!"

Reader stepped in front of him and held the furious Wario back. Red camped behind Reader peeked out from behind them, "We had no choice! You were possessed by the stone and if we didn't break it, you probably would've killed us all!"

"I don't believe you! Where're your parents at?!"

"No! Wario! He's telling the truth!" Waluigi pulled him back, "See? Look! You did this to me!" He showed Wario his scars. Wario stared for a minute then growled and folded his arms.

"Oh! I see how it is! You're trying to side with these goodie two shoes here! If it wasn't for you, we probably would've had the money by now!"

"The buyer never arrived! And if they did, you probably would've scared them off!"

The argument continued. Red and Reader stepped back and watched it unfold for a bit until another person enters the chamber and looked around. "Hello! I was told to meet someone here to make an offer about a product he was offering."

"Professor!" Red shouted.

◇~◇~◇


	8. ☆《CHAPTER 7》☆

"Professor?!" Wario and Waluigi yelled in terror.

Professor E. Gadd chuckled. "Well, good to see you all! Is this an auction?"

Wario and Waluigi shiver and looked at each other. Wario then tried to paint a smile over his face as he approached the Professor. "Y-Yes, yes, w-well, you see... we had a minor inconvenience..."

"A minor inconvenience? And what may that be, sonny?"

"Well, ah--"

"The stone's broken!" Waluigi promptly answered. Wario jumped and roughy punched him in the arm to shut him up.

"I-It's _not_ broken, it's just uh, it kind of... well..."

"Is that it over there?" Gadd pointed over to the pieces of the stone. Red picked it up and brought it over.

"Yes, this is it, Professor. It's a long story," he answered.

E. Gadd chuckled a little bit, "Ah, it seems like there is some slight damage to it. But since this is an urgent matter, I will have to purchase it anyway. I'll offer you one hundred coins."

"One hundred coins?! Are you out of your mind?!" Wario screamed angrily. "Do you have any idea how much we had to go through to get that thing here?!"

"Would you rather me report this incident to the Princess and the department of science? Halting important research matters is a punishable crime, you know," Gadd said sternly.

Wario and Waluigi looked at each other before surrendering and accepting his one hundred-coin offer. Gadd handed them the money and called in his team of students to come to pick up the remains fo the stone. Irritatedly, Wario stormed out of the cave with Waluigi close behind them. Reader watched Red socialize with Gadd, then remembered the weapons they got from him. Surprisingly, the shield was no longer in their hands and the fiery sword was just the regular dagger from before.

"It's best that you two get home -- It's extremely late," Gadd said from afar after he and Red finished their previous conversation. "And the plains are known to have dangerous monsters roaming around at night."

"What about you, Professor?" Red asked.

"Oh, combat with monsters is one of the things I teach my students -- we'll be fine," he assured, chuckling.

"Well, make it back to the castle safely, Professor!" Red said, "Shall we get going, Reader?"

Reader nodded and both started heading the opposite way before Gadd stopped them again. "Oh! By the way, Ms. Taam wanted a word with you two when you got back."

"Oh! I wonder what she wants... Let's head out, Reader! And thank you, Professor!"

Reader and Red quickly and cautiously left the cave and sped across the plains until they made it back to Toadtown. From there, they quickly made their way to Ms. Taam's place again. When they walked in, Ms. Taam jumped up from her seat with a big, motherly smile on her face. "Thank goodness you two are back! I thought Wario and Waluigi had you tied up somewhere!"

"Nah, we just had to sort some stuff out with them," Red replied reassuringly.

Ms. Taam let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least you two returned safely. Come get a candy!" she reached into her pocket and then held out her hand with two homemade candies in the palm if it. Reader and Red each took one and politely thanked her.

"Oh, Miss? The Professor said that you wanted to see us when we got back," Red recalled after sucking on his piece of candy.

"Ah, yes! Thank you for reminding me. I have great news for your guys' roof! It's been all repaired."

"Wow! That was quick!"

"Well, yes. That's a good and bad thing."

"Huh?"

"Well, it was fast, but it doesn't exactly look ideal," Taam explained. "According to the repair guy, he said that it was about to start raining so he finished it up fast so the inside of your house wouldn't get soaked."

"Aww, how considerate of him!"

"But honestly, I think he just wanted to get off work early, because I haven't seen a lick of rain all day."

"I- er... take back my last comment..."

Ms. Taam shook her head in disappointment, then reverted her attention to Reader. "It should still work, I think. If you have any problems with it, just come back here so I can fire that lazy repairman."

Reader nodded and looked down at Red, who thanked her and turned back to Reader. "Wanna head home?"

Reader and Red left Ms. Taam and headed back to their house. When they arrived, they went inside and checked the hole in Red's room. It was partially patched up, and it let a great amount of moonlight into the room, giving it a relaxing, blue tint. Reader was a bit angry at the half-done job, but Red, surprisingly enough, wasn't bothered too much about it. "It gives me a beautiful view of the moon," he said as he gazed into the night sky. Reader looked over at him with a hint of confusion. For a moment, Red continued to stare into the sky. The dreamy expression on his face and the shining stars that reflected in his blue eyes made Reader wonder what he could be thinking about. What was it about the moon and the night sky that brought such peace to Red?

Red eventually snapped himself out of his daze and refocused. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you hanging. I just love the stars and the moon so much--Oh! But if you want to patch the rest of the hole up, that's a-okay with me--I'm just a kid so don't let me dictate your decisions."

Reader thought about it once more. The happiness that was emitting when he was gazing into the sky put Reader in a good mood. They walked over and wrapped their arm over Red's shoulder and glanced up at the sky with him. When standing right next to him, Reader saw the beautiful scenery that Red was taken by. They thought for a minute, then tapped Red. After they got his attention, Reader pointed at the window, then back to the hole in the roof. Red tilted his head curiously, but it then came to him. "Ohh! You want to put a window there for me?"

Reader nodded, smiling sweetly. Red's eyes widened in disbelief. "W-wow, I... thank you, Reader..." He said before holding his arm and sheepishly looked down, "It seems like you just keep doing favors for me when you don't have to... I-I just wish I could repay you..."

Reader shook their head, then smiled once more. Red also cheered up and looked back at the hole in the roof, "I guess this is just one of the ways life teaches you to enjoy the little things. Without the little things, we wouldn't have the big things -- without accidents, we wouldn't have blessings..." Red fell silent for a minute before speaking again. "Hey, Reader? Y'know that whole adventure we took earlier?"

Reader nodded and Red smiled a bit more, "I really enjoyed that. Even though there was hardships and we had to slap Wario back into his place, I had a lot of fun. Come to think of it, I haven't had that much fun in a while." he paused, then turned to face Reader again with a big smile on his face, "Wouldn't it be cool if we could go on more adventures like that? Who knows, maybe this is sign of a big adventure that we'll go on! Today was just fighting Wario, sure, but what if tomorrow we had to fight a big, scary dragon? C'mon, don't tell me that wouldn't be the COOLEST thing to happen to you!"

Reader and Red laughed before Red walked over to his bed, yawning, "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay. You should probably get some rest too."

Reader agreed, wished him goodnight, and walked to their own room. In a matter of minutes, they were knocked out. In the meantime, Red sat in his bed, replaying the day's events. When he remembered his library trip, he recalled the book he borrowed and nearly forgot about. He reached into his travel pouch and took it out and stared at the cover.

_The Seven Stars and the Iveditable Destruction._

The more he stared at it, the more he began to worry. He averted his gaze back up at the moon above him and let out a sigh.

" _If only everyone knew..._ "

◇~◇~◇


	9. ☆《CHAPTER 8》☆

_Dearest Eldstar... I'm having a bit of an issue._

_An issue? What could it be, my boy?_

_The event... it seems like no one cares about it. Even with the evidence falling from the sky -- it just seems like no one finds it even slightly suspicious._

_Well, isn't that why you went down there?_

_Well, yes. But, they seem so... naive to such danger. How do I even tell them something that... intense without breaking their spirits?_

_Well, knowing_ **_your_ ** _spirit, I'm sure you'll find a way to tell them. Remember, follow what your heart says._

_~~~_

"And here it is, folks, the letter with a pretty flower on it! The mailman leans in, he throws, and... WHOO-BLAM! Direct land into the mailbox! I wish my mother let me play basketball as a career!"

Red and Reader woke up bright and early to start their day. After making breakfast and drinking some coffee, their next stop was their mailbox. Inside was an orange envelope with a white flower on it. Oddly enough, there was no sender or return address on it. Reader opened the envelope and read the letter inside...

_To the adventurous duo living in this home, please meet me near the cave in Acorn Plains._

_I need your help._

_~~~_

"Oooh! We got our first help summoning, Reader! We're really gonna be adventurers now!" Red quickly ran back inside and grabbed the dagger in Reader's room and his travel bag and threw it over his shoulder and tucked it safely under his cape. He returned outside and smiled, "Alright, I'm ready for action!"

Without missing a beat, Reader and Red made their haste to Acorn Plains. They traced their tracks back, leading them to the cave they found the day before. Looking around, they find no one. Reader checks the letter again as Red continues looking. "I don't see anyone... Aw, shucks, don't tell me it was a prank."

"It was no prank." a voice emitted from the cave. Both Red and Reader jumped back frantically. A figure slowly approached them from the depts of the cave. As it approached the light, the figure turned into a tall, fit woman with brown, trimmed hair and big, blue eyes. There was not even a hint of makeup on her face, therefore all of her blemishes could be easily made out. Her burnt orange sleeveless one-piece was cut right in the middle of her thighs.

Mildly terrified at the sight of the firearms comfortably sitting in the gun holsters strapped to her thighs, Red steps closer to Reader's side before speaking to her, "U-Um, hello! Didn't see ya there."

"No worries, I won't hurt you," she says, pointing at each of them, "Reader and Red, was it?"

"Yeah!" Red brightly smiled, but then suddenly paused, "Wait, how'd you know our names?"

"I was quietly observing you two yesterday when you went after Wario and Waluigi," she answered, "I knew they were up to no good, but you two beat me to them. The way you handled that... possessed Wario was amazing, especially for a newbie and a kid."

Reader chuckled nervously and Red scratches the back of his head. "Heh... all in a day's work... that is what the heroes say, right?"

The woman laughs. "I like ya already, kid! I knew I picked the right ones for the task."

"Task?"

"Yeah. You know the old dude, E. Gadd?"

"The professor? Yeah, he's been picking up all these fallen stones and stuff." Red recalled. "He said he was taking them in for research."

"Mhm. Of course he is. That man is up to no good," the woman suddenly sounded stern. "He's taking those stones for his own personal research so that he can make more of his crazy inventions using powers that we aren't supposed to be playing with."

"He is?" Red and Reader tilted their heads.

"Yes. Wanna know what's worse? He's testing it out on the Yoshis in the Rock Candy Mines," she continues, "Ironically, which is right outside of the Kingdom's borders. Meaning he can do anything he feels like without Peach or anyone else enforcing any rules or regulations."

"O-Oh! W-Well, maybe he knows what he's doing--"

"He does NOT know what he is doing, EVER! He researches things, then tests them out on innocents, living AND dead! He nearly broke this entire timeline because of a stupid untested time machine he made!" The woman shouts, her voice scaring back Red. She noticed him beginning to cower further behind Reader, so she took a deep breath and lowered her voice, "I'm sorry for going off like that. E. Gadd and his stupid experiments makes my blood boil. Please, you two gotta help me put a stop to him."

Red and Reader looked at each other for a moment. Red steps out from behind them and speaks as calmly as possible, "We'll help."

The woman's expression went from anger to bright, "Really?! Thank you guys so much!" she cheered, "Oh, have I introduced myself?"

"I don't believe so."

"Well, hi! I'm Dais--" she coughs abruptly, "Destiny."

"Aw, that's a wonderful name! Hi, Destiny!" Red cheerfully waves, "Wow, I love saying that name! It's just so cool and adventure-y, you know?"

"Don't wear it out, kid." Destiny says, "Now, come. We have to go."

"W-Wait, right now?" Red stammered with Reader sharing a similar expression on their face. Destiny chuckled and nodded. She motioned them to follow her forward. Reader, Red, and Destiny all made haste to the north side of the Plains, eventually finding themselves in a dryer, hotter climate. Layer-cake Desert. Reader fanned themselves and frequently wiped the sweat from their face. Destiny pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, but even she couldn't take the heat.

"Wow, I'm impressed, Red," Destiny says, panting for breath. "You don't seem phased with this heat at all."

"Oh, r-really? I guess I'm just good at hiding it. It's boiling out here and I don't like it."

"Why don't you take the hood and scarf off? I'd hate for you to have a heat stroke out here."

"Nah, I'm good. Handling fire and all that makes your body more resilient to heat anyway," Red assured.

"If you say so."

The trio continued pushing on, occasionally stopping under tall rocks and trees to take a break and regroup. While monsters were roaming the desert, none of them seemed interested in the group enough to bother, making the trip a smooth one. Even though she was focused, Destiny and Red occasionally exchanged a few words, mostly small talk, while Reader politely nodded along in silence.

"Hey, so... How did you find out that Gadd was coming out here to Rock Candy Mines?" Red inquires curiously.

"I overheard him talking with his students early this morning," she answered, keeping her gaze fixed on the endless sand ahead. "I didn't hear all of it, but I heard him mention Rock Candy Mines, Princess Peach and her policies, and the Yoshis."

"Yikes. And I thought he was a good guy," Red mumbles in disappointment.

"We all did. Quite a few people still do." Destiny falls silent for several more minutes as she continued pushing forward. For a few hours, the three of them observed the sand becoming less and less harsh. Slowly but surely, the sand beneath their feet turned into pebbles and stones. Before they knew it, they were walking on nothing but stones as a large mountain started coming into view. The trio stopped and eyed up the mountain standing before them. The gentle mountain breeze blows through their hair and the loose parts of their clothes. "This is it. Rock Candy Mines."

"This mountain is huge..." Red said. "Where do we go after this?"

"Well, I'm willing to bet that their first stop would be the cabin slightly further up," Destiny thinks aloud, "I hope you guys' legs are strong -- this will be quite the hike."

◇~◇~◇


	10. ☆《CHAPTER 9》☆

Reader took a deep breath and followed Red and Destiny. Slowly, they began scaling the tall, rough mountain. Every now and then, they had to stop for a breather and a sip of water. The higher they went, the dryer the air began, taking a toll on their lungs. They pushed on bravely. Eventually, they came to a stop in the face of a small, wooden house. "Who's house is this?" asked Red as all three of them slowly approached it.

"Just cabin for tropes," Destiny responded, opening the door and looking around inside. Seeing no one, she opened the door wider, allowing everyone to walk in with her. Reader and Red curiously looked around the rustic house filled with rooms, beds, and other bare household essentials. Destiny peeked inside every drawer around as if she was looking for something important. "Hey, you two. Keep your eyes out for a key."

"A key? What does it look like?" Red asked.

"Uh... Honestly, any key. I don't recall what the one I need looked like," she answered. Red and Reader nodded, then followed suit. Around and around they looked. In rooms, under beds, in closets, behind cushions of the couches -- they all found a variety of different keys, and after they scrapped the house clean for keys, they came back together and sat them all on a table. Destiny, surprised at the number of keys they found, sat down, and examined each and every one of them carefully until she came across a particular two. There was a blue jewel, a mini crystal flower, and two identical charms with a red "M" on one and a green "L" on the other, all hanging off a key ring with two silver keys along with it. A smile grew on Destiny's face as she stood up straight, "Alright, this is the one. Let's get out of here." Reader and Red nodded in cooperation and resumed following her lead. up the mountain.

After about an hour, the three of them came to another stop. They stood in front of a closed gate. A sign next to it read, "Please present a guest pass or hiking license in front of the scanner."

"A guest pass?! You gotta be joking!" Red snarled irritatedly. "What do we do, Destiny?"

Destiny reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys from earlier. She took the slightly bigger one, walked over to the scanner, opened a hidden cover, and stuck the key inside the revealed keyhole. She flipped over the crystal flower charm, reached into her pocket and pulled out a similar looking one, and pressed them together, causing the charms to glow. She stepped back, expectingly, but the gate didn't do anything.

Red looked around in confusion. "Was... was something supposed to happen?"

"Well, yeah, the gate is supposed to open!" Destiny said. She rushed back over to the key and reinserted it multiple times. The gate doesn't budge. She growled in frustration and kicked the scanner, leaving a small dent in it. "Come on, you stupid piece of scrap metal!"

Reader walked over to Destiny and attempted to help her while Red looks around the area for clues. While Destiny was busy trying to get the key to work, Reader's eyes rolled over the display on top of the scanner. It reads, "Message to all tourists: Due to an important science experiment taking place, Professor E. Gadd has denied all visitors* access to the peak of Rock Candy Mines." Below the message, there was fine print reading, "*Important persons, such as the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Princess of Sarasaland, or the Super Mario Brothers, can still use their specialized keys to open the gate."

Reader nudged Destiny and motioned her to read the screen. She read through it, then folded her arms. "That old coot must've denied me--important persons access as well! This isn't good."

"Hey, guys! Look what I found in the ground!" Red jogs back with a key. The Professor's logo was printed on it as well as a set of numbers underneath it. "It looks like it belongs to one of the students. Maybe you can try it?"

"It's our best bet." Destiny took the key from Red, removed the one she previously inserted and replaced it with the one Red found. For a moment, the gate didn't make a move, but shortly after, it makes a beeping sound and the gate slowly creaks open. The three of them cheered. "Wow, close save, Red! I owe you a million! Now, come on! I may have an idea of where Gadd may have stopped."

Reader, Red, and Destiny continued pushing on, now with much more urgency. As they continued climbing further up, the temperature slowly began to drop and snow began falling from above. This was a sign that they were approaching the peak of the mountain. Reader held their arms and rubbed them in an attempt to generate some heat. Destiny tried to hide the fact that she was freezing, but it soon became obvious. She began slowing down and softly whimpering as the snow made its way into her boots, chilling her feet. Red felt bad, so he reached into his pouch and handed another one of his spare capes. "It... It may not cover everything, but maybe it'll help you retain some heat."

"You're a lifesaver, kid." She took the cape and wrapped it around her body the best she could. It was just enough to cover her arms, and the cape was surprisingly warm. She regained some of her strength as a result. Red smiled at this, then handed another spare to Reader. After nodded as thanks, they wrapped their upper body in the cape and snuggled into it. The three of them resumed their hike. They moved fast enough to keep their bodies warm. After a few more minutes of freezing travel, Red points out another wooden house in the distance. Destiny grinned happily and then started bolting towards it. Reader and Red followed. When they caught up, Destiny pulled out the two keys again, and this time, she inserted the smallest one into the keyhole and twisted her wrist. The door unlocks and they all rush inside. Destiny freezes at the sight of an empty cabin with no other soul to be seen. "No... I thought they would be here..."

"What made you think that?" Red looked up at her.

"This is the cabin for important people, you know, like Princess Peach. I'm sure Gadd falls on that list, and not only that, he said that they were going to stop up here!" she said before taking a deep breath. "Well... I guess we might as well take a small break."

Red and Reader looked at each other before going to sit on the couches in the living room. While Destiny was in the kitchen nearby, Reader and Red relaxed and warmed themselves up. Destiny came back with small cups of hot chocolate and coffee for herself and handed them out to Reader and Red. They thanked her and drunk the warm drink happily. Destiny chugged her coffee. The three were silent for a while as they relaxed. Destiny stood by the window, keeping an eye out. While Reader and Red snuggled into their chairs, Destiny remained on guard. About an hour passed, and Destiny didn't stop to rest. Eventually, she saw some shadows emerging from the snow far away. She gasped. "Reader! Red! Upstairs! Now!" She commanded.

"Wait, what's--"

"Just do it!"

Red and Reader jumped from their chairs and ran upstairs and hid in one of the rooms. Destiny followed them in and rested her ear on the door. Downstairs she heard footsteps and voices, most notably E. Gadd's.

"Professor! Why'd you drag us up here?!" one of the students complained, "It's so cold!"

"And perfect for testing. Cold temperatures are always good to test in because it surely keeps you awake," Gadd joked in response. The student seemed unamused as he sat down in one of the chairs. Other students wander the floor, some making comments about the warm fire and the quality of the house.

"Man, who owns this place? It's so nice!" one of the students said.

"Well, technically, the Mario Brothers own it, but they let anyone they trust use it whenever they please," Gadd answered, "Including me, of course."

Excitement and chatter filled the room. "Wow! Will we meet them on our way?! I want Mario and Luigi's autograph!"

Gadd chuckled, "If we do, you can ask them. But you remember why we came up here?"

The excitement fades, "Yes, professor. To study the Yoshis and the creepy stone."

"Yes! Students, this is an opportunity of a lifetime! Whatever we may find out on this research will be groundbreaking! And most importantly, those Yoshis have such value that cannot be wasted. Now, come close."

The students gather around the professor. They began whispering amongst themselves, and Destiny continues to try to make out what they were talking about. She couldn't tell what they were saying but what she could hear was, "... stone... the Yoshi... kill..." and that's when she snapped. She kicked the door open, jumped downstairs took out both of her pistols, and held them in front of her.

"I've HAD ENOUGH!" she screams. "You leave those damn Yoshis out of your experiments, Elvin!"

◇~◇~◇


	11. ☆《CHAPTER 10》☆

The students screamed and rushed to the front of the room. Red and Reader rushed downstairs at the screeches to see Destiny ready to go off on everyone. Gadd, however, seems unphased. "Tsk. Who said I was going to conduct experiments on those Yoshis, girl?"

"I heard you! Now you better leave this mountain and never come back, or I'll make sure you don't come back!" She aims her pistols threateningly.

"Heh. So you were listening. Repeat exactly what I said," Gadd folds his arms.

Destiny paused but keeps her threatening stance. "Well, you said something about Yoshis, the stone, and killing them!"

"No, no. Repeat exactly what I said." he insists.

"I... well..." Destiny stammered as sweat formed on her head, "I-I didn't hear all of it, but that's enough evidence for me! Right, Reader?"

Reader's heart skips a beat, but they also take a threatening stance in agreement. Red remains behind the two, unsure of who's side to take anymore.

"So, you're assuming what I said," Gadd said, "You know, in the science world, assuming is never good. In fact, it can lead to dangerous results. Red? I see you back there. Did you hear what I said?"

Red whimpers, but admittedly shook his head. Gadd looked at Reader, asking the same question. Reader also shook their head. He smiled proudly.

"Because all three of you didn't hear what I said, you can't make any valid claims, therefore you're bearing false witness," he explained. "In case you're still wondering what I said, I said _'We are going to test the_ _Yoshis_ _here for the same negative energy that_ _Wario_ _had. In the meantime, keep your eyes out for the stone we saw in the cave as well. If we don't see what's going on, it may make them violent or kill_ _them.'_ "

Destiny lowered her pistols, "S-So, you weren't trying to make the poor Yoshis your test subjects...?"

"Heavens no! Quite the opposite, actually. We had reports of a stone falling onto the mountain, and just like it possessed Wario the other day, it could very well possess the Yoshis around here as well. We came up here to remove the stone as fast as we can and make sure the Yoshis hasn't been taken by their influence."

Destiny placed her pistols back into the holsters on her legs. She paused, then held her arm in guilt, "I... I guess I was bearing false witness... I... I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Princess."

"P-Princess?" Red mutters. It seemed like the word also caught Destiny off guard as well.

"P-Princess? What kind of name is that?" she deflected, sweating.

"Well, aren't--" Gadd stops for a moment, then reverted his tone. "Ah, I see what you're doing here."

Reader and Red looked up at Destiny, who was sweating like something was wrong with her. Gadd smiled, "Well if you excuse me, many lives are at stake. It's been nice talking with you... Destiny. You too, Reader." He motioned his students to follow him out the front door, leaving the three alone in the cabin. Destiny falls to her knees, letting out some tears.

"I... I'm such an idiot..." she sobs, wiping her face in defeat. "I can't believe I had the wrong end of the stick..."

"No, Destiny! It's okay!" Red kneels down.

"It's not!" she responded, "I should've never jumped into this without all of my facts straight! I should've never told you guys to come along, either!"

"Shh, shh. Destiny, hey," Red gently rubs her back, "It's fine. You made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. We forgive you, though!"

Reader nodded in agreement, smiling.

"And even though you made those mistakes, we had a great time adventuring with you!" he smiled, "You're an awesome go-getter!"

Destiny sniffs and looked at Red in the eyes. He takes his cape and wipes her tears on it. She smiled gently and stood up. "T-Thank you, Red. And you too, Reader."

They both smiled at her before a student breaks in frantically, "Mr. Red! Ms. Destiny! Professor requested your help! It's urgent! Come, come!"

Destiny pulls herself together and nodded. The three of them followed the student outside and further up the mountain. They soon reach the other students and Gadd, who was standing in front of a huge, outraged Yoshi. It screeched to keep him and the students back.

"T-The energy! It's taken over this Yoshi!" he cried, keeping his distance as he protectively hovered over his students. Red, Reader, and Destiny made their way to the front. "It doesn't look all scary and shadow-y like Wario did," Red says. The Yoshi let's out an ear-splitting screech and everyone covers their ears.

"It's surely irritated, though! What'd you do to it, Elvin?!" Destiny asked.

"I didn't do anything to it!" Gadd snaps back. The Yoshi screeched again, cutting their argument short.

"What do we do!?" Red asked.

A voice comes from the distance. "Princess, you mustn't! I demand for you to return to the castle at once!"

"Hush, Toadsworth!" Princess Peach rushes through the crowd, wearing the same outfit as Destiny was. Her one piece was a hot pink and her hair was tied back into a ponytail.

"Peach?!" Destiny screamed.

"My, I wasn't expecting you here, Daisy," she responds, "Actually, I was. Great to see you again, hun. Let's sort this out." She draws a long sword and Destiny steps forward and stops her.

" _Daisy...?_ "

"W-Wait! I don't think it's violent!" she said.

The Yoshi screeched again. Peach pauses then lowered her sword, "You're right, it's crying for help! What's wrong, sweetheart?"

The Yoshi screeches once more. "Oh, my... It's a mom in distress!" Peach said.

"A mom?!" the crowd questioned.

"Wait, then what's wrong with her?" Red steps forward.

The Yoshi screeches again, this time much louder. Peach nodded then turns to "Destiny", Reader, and Red. "She's saying to go into her nest nearby. There's something wrong with her youth!"

Destiny nodded. Peach quickly reaches into her pocket and hands Destiny a Mushroom. "Here, I bet you didn't come with any healing stuff. Remember what Mario always said about coming prepared?"

Destiny smiled gently, "Thanks, Peach."

"No problem, Daisy. Go see what's up!"

"Wait, so your name isn't Destiny?" Red asks.

"We'll discuss it later! Let's go see what's going on!" Destiny motioned Reader and Red to follow her into the cave nearby. Inside, there was a big nest filled with eggshells, twigs, and remains of wasted food. A dark purple stone had crashed right in the middle of the nest.

"The stone!" Red pointed out.

"But where are the young?"

Reader heard hissing from behind them, so they turned around. Behind them were three small, but terrifying beasts, corrupted with the same negative energy that possessed Wario. They backed up, frantically tapping Red and Destiny. The two also turned around in fear. "O-Oh no..."

The three beats lunged at the group, who jumped away in opposite directions. Reader and Destiny ended on opposite sides of the cave while Red closest to the stone. The beasts didn't rest. They all laid eyes on Reader, who was struggling to climb to their feet. Red quickly got up, reformed the shield and the sword through fire, and held them above his head, "Reader! Catch!" he threw both in front of Reader and they picked up the shield just in time to block the beasts from lunging on them. They then grabbed their sword and prepared for another battle.

Destiny seemed frantic. "Red! We can't just hurt the babies!"

"Don't hurt them, just defend them off until I break the stone!" Red shouted back. He ran towards the stone, not realizing one of the beasts following him. Destiny gasped, took out her pistol, and shot it. One bullet wasn't enough to even make it cry out, but it was enough to make it turn it's attention to Destiny.

Reader and Destiny continued holding off the beasts while Red prepares his fire in his hands. Due to their size, the beasts were easy to hold off as long as all three of them weren't focused on one person. Destiny continued shooting at them while Reader occasionally cut them with their sword. Neither of their attacks were very effective. The beasts continued growing more and more aggressive with their attacks and soon it became increasingly harder to defend them off. When Red was able to heat up, he slammed his hands against the ground and erupted a tower of flame beneath the stone.

The stone heated up and cracked, but didn't break instantly like last time. Red frantically tried to heat up again, but in the meantime, Reader and Destiny were beginning to lose their ground to the beasts. Destiny begged for him to hurry up. Anxiety filling his body, Red attempted to break the stone again. It cracked some more but still didn't break. Hearing Reader and Destiny cry for help and scream as the beasts were preparing to unleash their worst cracked Red's control. Fire emerged from his hair while some surrounded him on the ground. Hotter than ever before, he unleashed his best tower of flame. Literal lava erupted from the ground, shattering the stone nearly instantly.

The fire dissolved and Red fell to the ground as everything began fading to black.

◇~◇~◇


	12. ☆《CHAPTER 11》☆

The fire around Red dissipated. Reader and Destiny took this moment to breathe, thankful that it was all over. One of the baby Yoshis were released from the influence of the stone, they squeaked happily and ran around the cave like normal. Destiny and Reader grinned at a job well done.

The mother from outside ran inside the cave to greet her young. E. Gadd, his students, Princess Peach, and Toadsworth rushed in behind them. Peach happily jumped into Destiny's arms, "I knew you could do it!"

"So, it wasn't the mother under the influence, it was her babies," Gadd observed, "And, just like last time, they were released from the influence when the stone was broken."

The mother Yoshi screeched as a thanks, then walked over to the edge of the cave. Reader and Destiny watched as it began digging at a spot, then drug back a golden, rusted chest for them. She set it down in front of them then backed away respectfully. Destiny's eyes lit up as she ran over to the chest, "Oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, wow, oh, WOW! It's a secret chest! I can barely even imagine what's inside!" she gushed as Reader observed it excitedly.

Peach and everyone else gathered around. "Well? Do the honors, you two!" she cheers.

Destiny and Reader looked at each other, then simultaneously lifted the lid of the chest. The crowd leans in to see what's inside. "Oh, my shrooms..." Destiny and Reader pulled out the shiny item inside and held it up. The item was a wooden steering wheel that looked as if it belonged to a boat. The wood was polished and looked like it was made by an expert craftsman. In the middle of the wheel was a red 'M' that was carefully engraved on it.

Destiny stood up, "Red! Come look! We got treasure!"

There was no response. The crowd looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. Destiny and Reader's smiles soften. "R-Red? Where'd he go...?" Destiny asked, looking around.

Gadd looked around as well, but then stopped when an idea struck him. "Wait, let me see the front of the wheel." Destiny held it down and angled it towards him, giving him a clear view. "My... That's the same exact emblem that's on Mario's hat!"

"What?" Peach leaned in and gasped, "Oh, my! It is!"

"Mario? Why is his emblem on a boat wheel?" Destiny tilted her head. "Does he own a cruise ship?"

"No, no... that can only mean..." Gadd takes the wheel from Destiny and observed it closely, "Oh... my... so his stories were right..."

"What stories?"

"Years ago, Luigi told be that Mario decided to preserve his ship in case of an emergency." Gadd started.

"That's-a correct."

The crowd jumps. That young, Italian voice only belongs to one man.

"M-MARIO?!"

Mario stood at the other edge of the cave. The crowd runs over frantically, not believing their eyes.

"Where have you been, Mario?! We've missed you!" Peach cries, "Are you hurt?"

Destiny approached him, "We've looked everywhere for you! Y-you just disappeared one day a-and honestly, I thought you were dead!"

"I'm-a sorry for scaring you all. But, I need to talk to you all," he clears his throat, then looked at Reader. "Especially you."

Reader, who nearly fainted from being looked at so sternly by a world-famous celebrity, pointed at themself. Mario returns a nod, then continues. "The world is in terrible danger. These stones are only the beginning of it."

"You know about these stones, sonny?" Gadd inquires, "Because my students and I have been researching them."

"I do know about these stones," Mario answers, "They're called Darkstones. They're what you get when the end is nearing as we speak."

"Darkstones? You can't be referencing the ones mentioned in the legends, r-right?" Gadd shivers.

"I am."

The crowd falls silent. Mario let's them take in his information before Toadsworth speaks up, "But, the legend says that it can be only stopped by the stars above, and we have no way of going up to space and beyond."

"Yes you do. The answer is standing right in front of us," Mario eyes Reader, and the crowd also follow his gaze. Reader sweats and awkwardly points at themself again. "Yes, I'm-a talking about you. With the help of your friend, you have managed to neutralize two Darkstones. More importantly, you've obtained the wheel to my starship. I told Mother Yoshi to guard this wheel with her life, and if this type of situation happens, then entrust the wheel to the hero."

"Reader... that means you've been chosen!" Destiny gushes, "Oh, Red is missing so much!"

Reader swallows, realizing that the fate of the entire world now lies on their shoulders. Mario senses the uneasy vibe emitting from Reader. "Reader. This is-a super important task, and I know you can't handle it alone. However, I sense that you've made a strong bond with the child. He will be your guidance."

"Red? But wouldn't be dangerous to take him on an adventure like this?" Destiny speaks up.

"Trust-a me, that kid knows how to handle himself," Mario assures, "And he and Reader here make a wonderful team."

"Man, Red is missing out on meeting you," Peach says, "It seems like he already looks up to you. In fact, he reminds me a lot of you."

Mario chuckles, "Really? Well, perhaps I can meet him when this is all over!" he clears his throat and turns to Reader, "Anyways, there are four parts of my ship that are scattered across the land. Each one has a hint to the next."

"Wait a minute, if you're the one who scattered them all out, why don't _yo_ u tell us where they're at?" Destiny asks.

Mario sweats. "I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning! What makes you think I can remember where exactly where the parts are? There's hints on the back of each one for a reason!"

"Well, I guess that's better than nothing." Destiny shrugs.

Mario clears his throat, "Ahem. Anyways, Reader, it's up to you to find each of those parts reassemble my ship. But, you have to make it fast. The Darkstones are only growing in number. The more that fall means the less time we have. And they also become stronger as time goes on."

Reader nodded and smiled.

"Remember, Red will be your guidance." Mario backs up and sets his hands aflame, "Now, I must go."

"W-Wait, you're just leaving again?" Destiny jumped.

"Unfortunately."

"Wait, Mario! When will you be back?" Peach asks sadly.

Mario looked down for a moment, then shakes his head, "I don't know. But I will be back, I promise." he smiled at the crowd, "I have to go now. Good luck, Reader."

"W-Wait! Mario!"

Before Peach could stop him, flames emerge from the ground, covering Mario's body. Within moments, the flames disappear, and he does as well. The crowd was left staring at the bit of smoke he left behind.

◇~◇~◇


	13. ☆《CHAPTER 12》☆

_... What's going on, my child? You're not one to look so gloomy._

_Eldstar... Truth is, I feel absolutely terrible._

_Whys that?_

_I feel like I just stabbed a lot of people in the back._

_You said you wanted to tell them. And you accomplished that, right?_

_Yeah, but at what cost...?_

~~~

"Red... Red... Red!"

The words echoed inside of his head until Red finally managed to lift his heavy eyelids. Due to the combination of blinding light, dizziness, and blurred vision, Red slowly turned his head to the side. There, he saw Reader, Destiny, and Taam all standing over him. Their faces softened in relief.

"Red! Thank goodness you came to!" said Destiny, smiling widely. "I was scared that you weren't going to make it back alive!"

Red managed to make an inaudible noise in confusion while slowly fluttering his eyes.

"Professor Gadd said he found you out cold right outside Mother Yoshi's cave. After that, his students, Daisy, and Reader helped bring you back here," Taam explained slowly.

After a moment of silence, Red uttered, "Thank you."

Taam nodded. "I'll be back with some tea," she says before leaving the room. Destiny and Reader watched before averting their attention back to Red, who's vision began to return and the dizziness started to fade. When he was able to collect himself, Red propped himself up in the bed. "I-I'm so sorry for passing out on you guys. That fight got intense."

Destiny shakes her head, "No, it's okay. Just... try to take it easy on yourself, okay? Let your body rest."

Red nodded in agreement. The three sat in silence as Red's mind ran through all the events leading up to the battle. He was slowly able to piece everything together, all but one, small thing that had been on his mind for a bit. He took a deep breath, summoned his courage, then looked over at Destiny. "Hey, Destiny. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Why are people calling you different names?"

Destiny pause and Reader looked up from their hands curiously. Seeing that all eyes and ears were focused on her, she sighed and held her arm, "I... well... My name isn't Destiny."

"It isn't?"

"No... It's... well... My name's actually Daisy." she locked her eyes to her feet in a guilty manner. Red and Reader eyed each other from across the room. "I just wanted to keep my identity a secret because I'm sort of a... runaway princess."

Reader and Red's eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's a long story, so I'll spare you the details," she says.

"W-Wow. You didn't strike me as a princess-type at all," Red comments, "N-No offense to you, of course, Princess."

"Please, just call me Daisy," she abruptly corrects, "Or Destiny. Or both. Just don't refer to me as 'princess'."

"Request honored, Daisy!" Red smiled before tilting his head in confusion, "But wait, why'd you run away from your Kingdom?"

"You wouldn't understand..." Daisy looked down. Her face saddened a little bit and Red nervously twiddles his thumbs.

"Well, if you don't want to tell us, that's completely fine," he says in a loving tone, "It's none of our business, after all."

Reader nodded in agreement, resting a hand on Daisy's shoulder. Daisy looked at them both and smiled softly. "Thank you both. Would you mind keeping this whole thing a secret between us?"

Reader and Red nodded. "My lips our sealed." says Red, "And Reader doesn't talk much anyway, so I don't think we need to worry about them too much."

Daisy chuckled, "Thanks again. You guys are awesome."

As the conversation came to a lighthearted close, Ms. Taam walked in holding a silver plate with three cups filled with steaming hot tea. Underneath the plate was a pretty pink envelope, similar to the one Reader received the day they moved in. "Apologies for the wait! I've got the tea now. Make sure you blow on it because it's SUPER hot!" she said as she handed everyone a cup. After handing Reader the last cup, she lifted the plate and handed them the envelope. "And this came in for you, Reader. Apparently it was so urgent that they rerouted it from your house to here, so I wouldn't delay opening it."

Reader nodded and used their finger to rip an opening, then pulled out the letter. It read...

~~~

Dear Reader, Daisy, and young Red,

We want to thank you for your generous amount of help back at the mountain summit. We have important additional follow-up information, so we request your presence here at the castle. Please make haste as soon as you receive this letter.

Yours truly,

Princess Peach Toadstool

~~~

"So they want to see us at the castle? I wonder what they found..." Daisy wonders aloud.

"Well, we won't find out by sitting here," Red said. He pushed himself out of his bed while ignoring some of the sharp pains in his arms and lower body. "Lets roll!"

Daisy and Reader nodded. The two of them walked to the castle while Red limped behind as fast as he could. When they arrived, the guards took a quick look at the trio, then escorted them to the throne room. The hushed voices of various guards and some of the Professor's students filled the room as Peach conversed with Toadsworth and Gadd near the thone. The doors shut behind the three, alerting everyone else.

"Ah, you've arrived!" Peach smiled kindly, "Please, come on up."

Reader, Red, and Daisy made their way to the front as instructed. The crowd watches in anticipation.

"First off, I'm happy to see that Red's recovered," Peach starts, smiling, "I was really worried."

"I'm fine, Princess!" Red assures cheerfully, "I'm just a little sore, but I should be okay in a few days."

"Glad to hear it."

"Now with our emotional vows out of the way," Gadd interrupts, "I have something very important to discuss with you three."

"You said you found some follow-up information, yeah?" Daisy mentions. Gadd nodded.

"Exactly. Now, Princess Daisy, you may not like what I'm about to say."

"Just. Daisy."

"Yes, yes, of course. According to the hint written on the back of the wheel that we found, the next piece will be located in Sarasaland."

"What?! You're messing with me!" Daisy screams, her face flushing with anger. Gadd calmly shakes his head. "No, no, no! I need proof. Show me that wheel!"

"If you must." Gadd motions one of his students to carry the wheel over. Daisy hastily took it from their hands and squinted her eyes as she attempted to read the writing. "Is... is this in Italian?! Shit! Mario always has to make things complicated!"

"I-I can read Italian," Red quietly speaks up. Daisy's eyes lit up and she shoved the wheel into Red's hands, begging for him to read it. Red cleared his throat, glanced over the wheel, then began to read the translated text aloud, " _This part is required to start, stop, rise, and land - It is located to the east, covered in sand. The leader there may be able to lend a hand - since she rules the one and only Sarasaland._ "

"No way..." Daisy muttered, "I-I can't go back!"

"Why? What'd you do to anger the steward this time?" Gadd raises a brow. Peach shoots a threatening glare at him, resulting in a change of tone, "Ahem. What I meant to say is, you don't have much of a choice. Mario even recommended you to help out these two here."

"I know, I know... I just... Can't really return right now... _Not under these circumstances, anyway..._ "

"Would you rather be responsible for the world's collapse?"

"No! I... Ugh. Fine. I'll go to Sarasaland." Daisy growls, folding her arms in mild disapproval.

"Splendid!" Gadd claps, "The princess and I shall remain here at the Mushroom Kingdom. Oh, and unless you two want to walk for hours in the boiling hot sun, I suggest that you head over to MK Airlines and hitch a flight over to Sarasaland. Toadsworth already talked to the owner about the _outrageous_ ticket prices, and he said that he can make an exception and let you three fly for free."

"Oh, wow! Tell him we said thanks!" Red smiled widely.

Peach chuckles a bit. "Will do. Well, I bid you three farewell... Oh, Daisy..."

Daisy looked up from her arms, her face still expressing her disappointment. Peach's voice softened a little bit, "I'm dearly sorry that it has to be this way. I hope everything turns out okay for you."

"It isn't your fault, Peachy. It is what it is," Daisy softly smiled, "Though, I guess I'm obligated to thank you for letting me lay low here."

Peach shakes her head. "No thanks needed. I'm just happy to help out my friend."

Daisy smiled and pulled Peach into a hug for a moment, then stepped back to take one final look at her before turning towards Reader and Red. "Let's get going. That starship part isn't going to unbury itself."

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**Hello, everyone! I do want to apologize for not uploading a new chapter last week -- some personal issues came up that prevented me from finishing this chapter. I hope you understand!**

**Please note that this was just a temporary incident, meaning that there will be no changes to the current update schedule.**


	14. ☆《CHAPTER 13》☆

The three left the castle and made their way to the MK Airport. Groups of people from all around the world gathered around the check-in area. It was busy as always, so there was a bit of a wait in line before they got to the front.

"Three express tickets to Sarasaland, please." Daisy politely requests. The receptionist took a look at all three of them, but an unreasonably long look at Red's neck. Red shuffled uncomfortably and looked at the counter to avoid any awkward eye contact. Daisy and Reader looked at each other for a moment before Daisy tapped the counter to grab the receptionist's attention. "Is there a problem?"

"I'll need for you to hand over that necklace, kid," he demanded, pointing at the charm. "For security purposes."

Red's head dampened with sweat. "I-I'm sorry, but I can't do that, sir." he stammered.

"Why not? You hiding something?" The receptionist leaned in and glared into Red's eyes.

"N-No!" he shook his head. The receptionist growled and reached for the necklace, prompting Daisy and Reader to stand in front of him protectively.

"Leave him alone," Daisy commanded.

"Or what?" the receptionist asked. Before either of them could answer his question, he shoved both of them to the ground, jumped the counter, and tackled Red. He kicked, shoved, and hit the receptionist, but he wouldn't give in. He continued fighting for the necklace. Daisy and Reader jumped to their feet and worked together to pull him off but had little to no luck doing so. Red resorted to screaming for help, drawing the attention of nearby customers. Many of them stood their distance and watched the fight unfold while some of them went to go find help. A brief moment of fighting, scratching, punching, and shoving goes by before a customer returned to the scene with Toadsworth by their side. "Hey!"

His elderly British voice was loud enough to stop the fight in its tracks and the group drew their attention to him. When the receptionist's eyes fell on Toadsworth, he snarled and stood up. With a look of disgust on his face, Toadsworth rushed over. "What on _dear earth_ do you think you're doing, young man?!"

"I was trying to enforce our security policy, sir," answered the receptionist, "That kid had a dangerous item on him."

"I've already informed you that these kind adventurers here will have weapons on them for obvious reasons, hence why they are taking a private flight," Toadsworth said. "Now, escort them to the plane immediately."

"But you don't understand, Mister Toadsworth sir! This ki--"

"Now."

The receptionist fixed his mouth to say something but decided against it. Silently, he led Daisy, Reader, and Red to their privately set up plane. He gave Red one final glare before shutting the doors behind him and disappearing back into the airport. Daisy and Reader took a seat next to each other and Red sat in an end seat in the next row over. They buckled their seatbelts and settled down into the plane's cushioned seats.

As the plane began lifting off the runway, Reader watched the scenery go by and Daisy sat back and took a deep breath. "Yeesh. What was _that_ all about?" she wondered aloud. Red averted his attention from the window to her and shrugged.

"No clue," he answered. "But I'm glad it's over."

An awkward silence filled the plane. Reader was busy looking at the clouds rolling beneath them to pay the silence any mind, Daisy kept her gaze locked on her thighs, and Red fiddled with the charm on his necklace and occasionally looked out the window next to him. A few uneventful hours passed by. Red was leaning on the wall, observing the changing terrain below. "Hey, is that a pyramid?" he pointed out.

Daisy finally looked up from her thighs. "A pyramid, you say? We must be approaching my kingdom." 

"Ohh! So you're a desert princess!" Red smiled.

Daisy shrugs and showed no strong emotions. "Yeah, I suppose you can say that. Umm..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as she tried to add something interesting to her statement. "Fun fact about my place: we have some of the best spring water here despite this area being... y'know. Ninety percent desert. It's rich with minerals and nutrients."

Red's eyebrows perked up in interest, and they continued discussing water until the plane landed gracefully at the Sarasaland Airport. The trio stepped off the plane and looked around the area. Cool, dry air filled their noses as they made their way to the front. Daisy notably kept her head low and walked quickly, even though it was late at night and close to nobody was around. She stopped Reader and Red outside of the airport after making sure that her surroundings were clear. "Okay, here's the deal. I don't know where exactly the next ship part will be, but I know someone who _may_. Mind tagging along with me to run an errand?"

"Sure, why not?" Red smiled.

"Sweet. Follow me around the outskirts of the Sand Town."

"Wait, the outskirts?"

"Yeah. Just... follow me." 

Daisy leads Reader and Red around the outskirts of the kingdom. They could see a castle through the various town buildings and trees slowly coming into view. When it was closest to them, they snuck around the back and ended up in the back garden. Daisy paused to shuffle her hand through her pockets, looking for a particular tool. While she was at it, Red and Reader curiously looked around the beautiful garden in awe but remained focused on the task at hand.

"So... how do we get in?" Red finally asked, watching Daisy pull out a bundled up rope with a steel hook dangling from the end. Daisy unraveled the rope before answering his question.

"Like this." Daisy swung the rope around before launching it into the air towards the highest window above them. Below the window sill was a rolled up rope ladder, which the hook caught on to. Daisy pulled the ladder down with the hook and watched it fall to the ground. Daisy motioned them to follow her before swiftly climbing up the ladder. Reader and Red looked at each other in confusion but decided to roll with it. After a short climb, the three of them reached the window and slid themselves in. Reader and Red looked around the room, which seemed to be a closet that was filled with oversized beanbags, sports equipment, books, ropes, backpacks, travel guides, and clothes that were mostly jeans, t-shirts, and typical explorer outfits similar to the one Daisy was wearing. She motioned them to follow her again to the door at the end of the room and they swiftly followed her direction. She opened the door, let them exit the closet, then followed them close behind, only to be stopped right in her tracks.

"Daisy! Where on earth have you been?!" shrieked a female middle-aged Toad who was standing at the opposite side of the room. For her age, she was well kept and fairly good looking. She held a cane and her hair was tied into an elegant bun. Judging by the way she was dressed and the strict look painted on her face, it was obvious that she worked around the castle and took her job seriously.

Reader and Red stood frozen at the door and eyed Daisy, whose shoulders lowered in disappointment. She took a deep breath and fixed her mouth to talk, but the Toad rushed over with rage in her eyes. "We've been looking EVERYWHERE for you, young lady! You have no business slipping out of the castle without telling anyone where you're going! Why do you have to continue acting like a freaking barn-raised animal?!"

"Gee, good to see you, too." Daisy rolled her eyes.

From that moment alone, Reader and Red began to understand why Daisy snuck away from Sarasaland.

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End file.
